Because George Washington was the First President of the United States.

Prior to the creation of the Constitution, the position was not “The President of the United States.” The position was the “President of the United States in Congress Assembled” or, more commonly, “The President of Congress.”

Part of the reason for this there was no United States of America. There were states in the Americas united in a purpose and cause. These states considered themselves to be small political units unto themselves. Did they need to work together? Yes. Did they want anyone telling them how to do it? No.

Given the nature of the Articles of Confederation, the President was not the position we think of now. There was little power in the office, it had a term of only one year, and in many ways was ceremonial, similar to the Constitutional position of President of the Senate held by the Vice President of the United States.

While John Hanson was the first to serve a full one-year term as the President of the United States in Congress Assembled, he was the third man to hold this office.

The first President of the United States in Congress Assembled was Samuel Huntington (not John Hanson). He was the sitting president of the Continental Congress upon ratification of the Articles (and the sixth in the position of president of the Continental Congress).

The men who held the position are not considered “President of the United States” for those reasons as well as for the fact that the Articles of Confederation was a failed system that did not create an effective system of governance. These same men realized a new system needed to be created and they did so.

The United States of America did not come into existence prior to the ratification of the Constitution. There could be no President of the United States of America prior to the ratification in 1788.

Prior to the Constitution, the colonies were declared free and independent states under the Declaration of Independence which were, essentially, nation states that decided to coordinate under a confederation of states.

The Articles of Confederation, ratified in 1781, did not create a unified nation. They were ineffective and were often ignored by the independent states. The president under the Articles was not the President of the United States of America and was merely a ceremonial office.

The Federalist papers written by mostly Hamilton and Madison were instrumental in convincing not the just the citizens of New York but many who lived outside the state to ratify the Constitution. They are brilliant pieces of political and societal arguments that all interested in American history should read. It explains the basis and reasoning for establishing a federated nation under the Constitution.